I had to leave the trip a few days early to participate in a wedding, so when I had the opportunity to go back to Buenos Aires in the middle of the trip, I made it a point to visit ESMA, since I would have to leave the day before we went as a group. This was for me the most personally effective Memory Site. I believe part of it was attending on my own, and there being very few people attending that day. Being in those spaces alone and knowing what happened was truly haunting. I also felt that the controversial use of multimedia including projections and videos of personal testimonies (with English signage and subtitles) helped me to get a sense of what had occurred there. I especially appreciated the use of English as well as Spanish because it felt to me as if that opened up the site to people from around the world, and allowed the intention of informing people of the atrocities that had occurred so that they would never happen again to be a statement not just for Argentina but for fascism and dictatorships around the world. I understand that many survivors feel that the space should be left unchanged, but Emilse B. Hidalgo makes a good point in their article on Argentina’s Former Detention Centers, that the spaces must continue to exist after the passing of those who understand their context, so modifications that help future generations connect to the atrocities that happened there have to be considered necessary.

Photographs of the Desaparecidos are a common sight at most Memory Sites, but this one is particularly effective to me. I believe that it is because the photographs take up the entire space of the room. Julia Reineman’s article on portraits of mourning discusses how a photograph can be a transitional object to still have some piece of the missing person. I believe that is why it is so powerful to stand in this room and be surrounded by the Desaparecidos. We cannot deny their absence when we are confronted by the photographs donated by their grieving families.

I was initially impressed by the beauty of this Gothic cathedral, La Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. I am a huge architecture buff, and its façade was one of the most impressive I have ever seen. However, a façade can hide what hides behind it, and in this case, the hidden truth is that it was created by the forced labor of African slaves and indigenous people. This is a major debate in the Philosophy of Art currently, can you still appreciate the beauty in a work of art if the artist or the creation of the art is problematic? Would a plaque or sign on the church detailing the history be a step in the right direction?

In the basement of the building, MarySue stands in front of a memorial to those who we know were “transferred” to the air force base to be dropped in the ocean. Only one photo depicts a survivor, who was the photographer and was able to sneak the film out.

Our second-to-last stop of this trip was ESMA (Navy School of Mechanics), a detention center off of another bustling road in Buenos Aires. At first look, the grounds are beautiful. The site looks like a small college campus, and it’s hard to imagine the horrors that occurred here. When you get to the actual building in the corner of the grounds, the air shifts as you recognize the familiar rows upon rows of photos of disappeared people. The building is extremely hollow and cold.

We made our way to the basement. Prisoners were taken here, tortured, and interrogated. One of the more disturbing things we learned there was the language officers used as codes. To be “transferred” meant you were being sent off to your death. They dubbed the hallway of the basement “Happiness Avenue” as a cruel psychological tactic. 

This is a depiction of what prisoners could see from their position in Capuche.

While the basement was grim, the Capuche (“hood”) was worse. This is where prisoners were held daily. They were kept in small quarters with hoods on their heads and their limbs bound. There were video testimonies from survivors who noted the sheer inhumanity of such a condition, one that was not human. It was complete isolation and psychological torture. 

At the beginning of the trip, we learned about the prisoners being dropped from planes to drown. ESMA was where they were sent from. Being there and then traveling to the coast, where we saw memorials and tributes to those lost in the sea, it was hard to imagine how one human could do this to another. That was perhaps the hardest concept for me to grasp on this trip. What does it take for you to believe that forcing physical and mental torment on another person was appropriate? Why were so many people complicit? I think the answer lies in instability. Mass Killings in Argentina (Staub) claims “When life conditions are complex and difficult, submitting to an authority that offers a vision can satisfy important needs and goals. The military, although unable to stabilize the country economically or politically, had become the big brother in Argentina. Much of the population and political leadership relied on it, and the rest accepted its dominance.” 

You can draw troubling connections to the political state of Argentina’s pre-dictatorship to the United States. Our country is more polarized than ever, and it’s possible that a power similar can offer a sense of stability to those who long for it – and who knows what their agenda will be.  

I was interesting visiting the detention center and getting to see one of many places that held, and diminished people. Still trying to recover many aspects of “Club Athletico” they have ran into many issues that suppress their growth. With things like not having the money or workers to finish persevering this memorial. They spoke about how the main reason for continuing to work on this project was to conduct an archaeological, and documentary type testimony, and I believe this is to make it more personal to people that visit this. Is was also shocking to hear about many of the living conditions that people had to face. Overall a very eye opening place that is full of history. And seeing nunca mas engraved in the ground showed just how fed up many citizen are. 

archeological remains of the former detention center

Visiting the Club Atlético secret detention center in Buenos Aires was a haunting and thought-provoking experience, particularly due to the striking juxtaposition of its grim history and its current location beneath a noisy highway. This combination of historical significance and present-day surroundings created a profound and disconcerting atmosphere. As we approached the site, the ambient noise from the highway above served as a constant reminder of the bustling urban life continuing just overhead. The contrast is stark, with the energetic flow of traffic standing in contrast to the history once concealed beneath the ground.

Highway built above the former club atletico detention center

pillar in club atletico

For me, this visit served as a powerful reminder that beneath the surface of everyday life, there can lie hidden stories of pain, suffering, and injustice. The clash between the bustling highway and the solemnity of the clandestine detention center prompts contemplation about the coexistence of past atrocities and the vibrant present-day city. It forces visitors to confront the unsettling reality that history and its lingering echoes are not separate from the present, but rather intricately intertwined.

Hidalgo (2012) examines the complex and varied approaches taken towards Argentina’s former secret detention centers. She explores the different ways in which these memory sites have been dealt with– including demolition, modification, and preservation. The article analyzes the cultural, political, and social factors that influence the decision-making processes surrounding these former detention centers. In a way, Club Atletico was neither destroyed nor preserved. The remains of the basement where people were detained and tortured exist, and portions are visible; however, to a mere passerby they appear to be nothing beyond a construction or dig site. I walked right past the site when meeting up with the group because it was so nondescript. Moreover, our tour guide mentioned that if they continue to excavate the site they may also subject it to extreme water damage as the rainwater falls down steadily between the cracks of the highway. In this way, it is neither destroyed nor preserved. Memory, heritage, and justice intersect in complex ways at these secret former detention centers, and the state’s preservation of Club Atletico seemed (to me) an afterthought.

  I visited the site Club Atletico and was truly disappointed. The city has built a highway over top of the memorial as if the monument meant nothing. It was hard to focus and really feel for the people who were harmed because the sound of traffic overpowered my ears. I don’t know if this is their way of getting rid of the history but to me, that’s what it felt like. I feel that the community could do a better job of protecting the memorial. There should be some type of glass cover because the rain will only make it harder to preserve.

To learn that there was a secretive detention center in the basement of what used to be a three-story building was hard to picture without a visual. It was said that the extraction has stopped due to a lack of equipment and money. I feel that if this was important to the city as it is to the victims’ families then money and equipment shouldn’t be a problem. It’s hard to see that people can do horrific things such as torture, kidnap and kill people but when it’s time to make it right, the same efforts are not taken to preserve their memories. 

I feel we can preserve the memory of human rights abuses by continuing to speak up and tell the truth about what caused this all. I heard that the U.S. had a lot to do with the genocide of these people and I bet they are not at all helping with the investigations. The only way to make sure this doesn’t happen again is to continue holding all parties responsible accountable for their wrongdoings against humanity. Memorials should be taken better care of and shouldn’t be thrown under busy highways!